TalkException thrown at Brain.yak (Brain.java:59395)

Unfortunately, we have some bad news today. For the past week I have been noticing some problems with my speech. I had trouble getting words to come out, and when I did, they were sometimes slurred or incoherent. I had to really concentrate to speak fluidly. It has certainly been a situation that is much more noticeable for me than people listening to me. If you know about the condition, you can probably notice it, but most people off the street probably won't recognize the problem. It's not like, wow what happened to Andy, is he speaking Klingon?

So I went in for a MRI this morning and sure enough there is a nickel sized tumor in the left hemisphere. I believe the speaking difficulty is due to a condition called apraxia (as opposed to dysarthria). It is damage to the location of the brain called Broca'a area (the area highlighted red in the image).

Fortunately, the treatment path seems pretty optimistic. We will use a procedure called stereotactic radiotherapy (or SRS) to kill it with large doses of radiation. There are risks associated with it, such as additional impairment to speech and other motor skills, however, the success rate is pretty good. The radiation requires a single session and then I will be on steroids for several months afterward. We should be able to continue the chemotherapy in conjunction with this treatment.

I thank God that this tumor is not in a region of the brain responsible for cognition, memory or emotion. I look forward to all of the opportunities for self deprecation because I am having trouble saying something. There is nothing better to resolve a challenging situation by seeing the humor in it. It's not like I have been a vocabulary wizard before now. It is time to open up the Andyism journal again Erin.

I feel like this cancer is old adversary now. It is a devil that I have been fighting for years now, and it has certainly taxed me. One day I may feel exasperated, but fortunately, the next day God fills me with vigor and I ready to fight again. This attack on my brain feels much more threatening than the lungs or colon. It is getting close to the gateway to my soul. However, we have a counter attack planned that I believe will sever the legs from this cancer and send it on its back. The two new drugs that we are already initiating have both shown some success in brain tumors--there are many drugs that won't work with those tumors because the molecules aren't small enough to penetrate to the tumor when it is lodged in the brain. But not these little weapons. This gives me confidence that we will reduce the likelihood that we will see another tumor form so easily in the brain.

I have already received a ton of encouragement from people offering their prayers and that is so awesome. You guys are a real blessing. I have faith that God respects our prayers to Him.

Also, the doctors and nurses at UMC have been nothing short of amazing through this whole process. I have so much respect for people that choose a profession to help those of us that get this awful disease.

The title of this post is a shout out to all my nerdy programming buddies.

EDIT:: I had to edit the post... the first time I wrote it I said, "a ton of encouragement of people offering their brains and that is so awesome". I thought that was pretty funny and wanted to make a note of it.